Blu Rock: Release the Twins!!

Part I of II

Ok, NOT what you were thinking…

I am talking about Twin Fins on SUP Race Boards.

Now I know many of you are saying “Aw come on, I saw people do that a couple of years ago and it didn’t work…”

Well, you are right. It didn’t.

The bigger question is WHY?

It didn’t work because shapers and riders did what we usually do…take what we know and apply it…well…to EVERYTHING.

Twin fins didn’t work previously because traditional SURFBOARD dimensions and fins were applied to SUP race shapes.

You see the interesting thing about SUP’s is that they are...SUP’s.

Especially unique are Race SUP’s.

They are not canoes, or kayaks or outriggers or sailboats or powerboats or windsurfers.

The physics occurring when paddling a SUP of any kind, due to the weight being centered in a very small area (even compared to a Kayak or Canoe), the angle of leverage being so much higher above the boards water line and the fact that we are only going 6-7mph (and that’s at the Elite fast end in flat water) is something that many of us seem to overlook.

Photo: Conrad Garcia

So back to Twin Fins; How and Why do they work now?

It's because SUP Race Twin Fins need specialized fins and a more in depth analysis of what a SUP race board is doing Under and On Top of the water (and not forgetting to factor in environmental forces like Current, Wind and Surface Chop).

Enter Larry Allison of Allison Race Fins and Fibre Glas Fin Co.

More about Larry - see video below:

http://youtu.be/-oN8TziAEFM - Larry Allison

I have worked with Larry quite a bit over the last couple of years on different fin designs (the Ventral Fin box and advent of the Mini-Ventral are some of my forays with Larry).

So when Larry said “Let’s put a pair of Pro-Boxes in your carbon 14ft race board” (and he explained why) I said “Let’s do it!” (Special thanks to George at www.surfguyssurf.com who does all of the fin box modifications on my race/surf boards - top shelf work)

Flash forward to a few fin size and shape alterations later and I again say Release the Twins!

Photo: Larry Allison

So what will Twin Fins in your SUP Race board do for you?? (THE HOW)

1. Increased stability – not just to the boards’ general shape, but also in chop, side wind, heavy seas, while paddling, etc.

2. Increased projection - in adverse side wind and chop (at the 2013 Key West Classic this year I was able to accelerate, pass and point higher than other paddlers on the back side of the island cutting across the large bay with a 25 mph cross wind; I attribute that to the Twin Fins and Ventral Fin combo I was running – especially compared to the previous year with a single fin on the same board)

3. Off the line top speed – From a standing start, Twin fins allow you to accelerate up to the boards top speed much quicker than a single fin.

4. Low Drag, Low Drag, Low Drag – a pair of twin fins are only 4-5 inches deep. Depth is drag. (At this year’s Carolina Cup I was able to cut across very shallow sections of the Intracoastal; keeping me out of the very heavy on coming current we paddled in for almost 8 miles and again afforded me to catch and pass 5-6 racers or more on the back side of the course.)

For THE WHY, I need to break this up into two posts.

In my next post I will explain why Twin Fins work in more detail (The Method behind the Madness)

NOTE: Do not run out and throw a set of surf fin boxes in your race boards and snap in a set of 4 inch surf fins - remember this didn’t work the first time around.